Police seeking clues in homicide investigation

Police seeking clues in homicide investigation

February 1st, 2014 in News

Jessica Murafetis, 44, of Kansas City was found dead in Holts Summit Thursday near the Exxon Mobil gas station on the 100 block of East Simon Boulevard. Anyone with information is asked to contact Bryan Reid with Holts Summit PD at (573) 896-8431 or Callaway Crime Stoppers at (573) 592-2474.

The autopsy of a Kansas City woman found dead in Holts Summit was rescheduled from Friday and was hoped to be completed this weekend.

Sgt. Marc Haycook with the Holts Summit Police Department said the body was still frozen Friday, postponing the autopsy. The Boone/Callaway County Medical Examiner's Office is performing the autopsy.

Jessica Murafetis, 44, of Kansas City was discovered Thursday in a grassy field right off the Holts Summit Exxon Mobil gravel parking lot where tractor-trailers were parked. The Exxon Mobil is located on the 100 block of East Simon Boulevard in Holts Summit.

Murafetis was discovered at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday when an Exxon Mobil customer saw her body lying in the field and told an employee.

Haycook informed the Fulton Sun that Murafetis was a Kansas City resident Friday, after previously stating she was from Chilhowee, Mo. - a small town in Johnson County, south of Warrensburg. He also said Friday that Murafetis did not have any relatives or friends in the Holts Summit area and didn't have any obvious reason to be in the town.

Murafetis was married at the time of her death. She is survived by a son and daughter. Murafetis was also unemployed, Haycook said.

Murafetis had an interest in the trucking industry, according to several of her Facebook posts from 2012.

She posted about applying for employment with "Swift," a transportation services company, in early May 2012 and asked her Facebook friends to pray that was hired for a position. Later that month Murafetis wrote a Facebook status mentioning truck driving school.

On October 22, 2012, Murafetis posted a Facebook status stating she was the "proud owner" of a 1991 386 Peterbilt semi-truck with "carbo engine and tranny with less than 10,000 miles on it."

Although police wouldn't release more details about Murafetis, Missouri's online court system database, Case.net (www.courts.mo.gov/casenet), reveals Murafetis faced four landlord complaints in three years - between 1993 and 1996 - and a breach of contract lawsuit in 1995. She was arrested in 2008 for unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor offense.

When she was discovered, Murafetis was wearing "olive-drab" (green) United States Marine Corps sweatpants and a red, long-sleeve T-shirt with the logo of Covenant Towing and Recovery, a company based in North Kansas City.

Holts Summit Police Department is leading the investigation with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Callaway County Sheriff's Office and Jefferson City Police Department. Haycook said within 30 minutes of receiving the 911 call, all four law enforcement agencies were at the crime scene.

More than a dozen officers from the four agencies searched the area for clues Thursday. Haycook said the Missouri State Highway Patrol will be examining physical evidence because the agency has the most resources.

The Fulton Sun reached out to family members, but they either declined to comment or did not return messages.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Bryan Reid with Holts Summit PD at (573) 896-8431 or Callaway Crime Stoppers at (573) 592-2474.